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Thursday, December 1, 2016

We are knee deep in the holiday season and Christmas is my very favorite of all holidays! I love to serve, love, and share with my family and friends during the holidays. The reason for the season is the Savior, Jesus Christ and He has shown us how to love and serve others. We have opportunities every day to do things for others to bring happiness and joy, but during the Christmas season it becomes more of a focus. This December we are trying to make Christmas more meaningful by doing service each day. You can join in by going to mormon.org to find many wonderful ideas for service that you can do. #LIGHTtheWORLD

A gift card is always an easy gift for a friend or even a stranger, but if it's given in something that's handmade, it makes it more than just a "last minute" gift.

Take a small Kraft Tag a Bag gift bag and fold it in half. That leaves two small pockets-one for a note and one for a gift card (or two different gift cards)! Add some details like a ribbon or baker's twine to hold it together.

Our Envelope Punch Board makes a perfect size pocket for a gift card. Use one of our Designer Series Paper or Stacks and punch out a bunch of these and keep them on hand...you never know when you might need one!

This idea came from my upline Jill Olsen's get together! Using some fun coordinating papers ties everything together and makes even the smallest gift card seem more thoughtful.
From simple to extravagant, these gift card pockets will make your gift card giving cheerier!!
Hand one of these to your server at lunch, your hair stylist, or your kid's teacher and see how they react!

Please stop by and say hi to my blogging friends, a kind word is always meaningful.

Enjoy your holiday celebrations! Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2017!

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

It's here! The holiday season! I love to spend time with family and Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorites. While it's been abnormally warm here for fall, the leaves are changing and there is a crispness in the air--sweater weather is here.

I had a fun time in St. George at my second upline Jill Olsen's stampin' get together. We made some fun projects and had some great mini classes. It's always a fun time at Jill's!

Just a few of the many projects that were displayed at Jill's get together.

Since life has been a bit crazy, I didn't do a stepped up or stepped over project but this project is so simple, it only takes a few minutes to do several of these cute boxes.

I took a sheet of the DSP and cut a 2" x 8"strip and scored it every 2". Place the strip in the box and add your goodies and DONE! I love walking the aisles of Target looking for little things to put in these cute little boxes--there's lots! Chocolate is always a good choice.

I finished it off with a tag using the tag punch with a couple of stamps from Oh What Fun photopolymer set. I embossed the sentiment and added some tiny dots of white craft ink on the berries with my stylus (thanks Jeanna!!). I also love the Candy Cane Lane baker's twine, adding a little shimmer to the package. Since each sheet of this DSP is 12" x 12", you can get about 8 of these strips out of each sheet, that's almost 100 box liners from one pack of DSP! That's a great value!

Head on over to Tanya and the rest of the bloggers! I love what they come up with!

While I'm excited for the holidays, in the retail world I know it will start getting old in a couple weeks...wish me luck!

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Fall is definitely here. My husband and I went up the canyon last weekend to see the beautiful leaves as they are changing color in the mountains. They are changing in the valley as well, but it is so much more dramatic with the large clumps of trees together as well as the dusting of snow. So pretty!

We are having fun with our blog hop and I decided to use the cute Cookie Cutter Christmas set to create my projects this month. I found out I have a new grand nephew this week, so this card will be perfect for the gift. I also used Playful Backgrounds for some fun texture.

My Christmas card uses the same Cookie Cutter Christmas set along with the bold look of the Candy Cane Lane DSP. The bright colors on the Crumb Cake background is stunning and I added a touch of bling with some Red and Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and some Candy Cane Lane baker's twine. An extra detail was using the Fine Tip glue pen as "frosting". Letting the glue dry gives a shiny raised look to the white details on the gingerbread man--very cute!

I'm loving so many of the sets in the new Holiday catalog and the bundles are great because you can purchase coordinating items for a better deal than buying them separately. Check out more bundles here.

We'd love to hear how you like the blog hop so we know how we can give our friends more inspiration! Comments are always welcome!

It's time to get the Halloween decorations out! I love this time of year, what about you?

Thursday, September 1, 2016

In the past few months we haven been doing a lot of stepped up projects, starting with a simple design and then adding more...paper, accessories, stamps, whatever. The next few months we are doing it a bit different. We are making a project and then doing a similar one using holiday products! I hope you enjoy it!

I am loving so many of the new Thinlits. They are so fun and versitile. For the first project I used Sunshine Wishes Thinlits dies along with Sunshine Sayings stamp set. These products are coordinated to be used together and you can create cards and gifts for so many occasions.

The holiday wreath was made with the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits along with the Thoughtful Banners stamp set. Again, another all-around set for many different projects.

I can't wait to get my hands on some new products from the Holiday Catalog! You can order from it today, so head on over to my website and get a jump on your holiday cards, tags, gift bags and boxes-it will be here before you know it!

I bet there's some great projects on the blog hop today. Check out my creative friends!

Life is just as crazy as ever--it never seems to slow down! Fall is around the corner and I can't wait!

Monday, August 1, 2016

Well, time got away from me this month so my post is a bit late, but better late than never, right? I did have a bit of time to make a card with a few new items from the amazing catalog.

This is the basic one. I used Badges & Banners with a little splatter stamp from Swirly Bird. I tied it up with a little bow made with linen thread. A simple banner in Mint Macaron adds a nice sentiment.

For the stepped up version, I ran some Whisper White card stock through the Big Shot with the Brick Wall embossing folder and added some "swirlies" from Swirly Scribbles thinlits. I kept the linen thread and the banner but I colored bits of the birdcage image with our great dual tip Stampin' Write markers. This is a very versatile set and with the two punches that it coordinates with, you have even more fun to create!

Time to move on to the rest of my friends! I just love all the projects they come up with!

So, my question to you is...what is your favorite item in the new catalog? I'd love to hear!!

Friday, July 1, 2016

Summer is in full swing here. We've had hot sunny days, pouring rain, pounding hail and blowing wind! Pretty normal around here!! The hail ripped up my veggie garden a bit, but most of the plants are doing rather well, just lost one snap pea plant. I do not have a green thumb by any stretch, but I've been enjoying watching my little seeds turn into large plants! Yay!

I love the colors in the paper pack as well as the scenery and textures that are on flip side. So many options!!

On the stepped up card, I cut around the edge of the image and then punched a Crumb Cake layer piece and used dimensionals to pop them up. Some cute thick baker's twine and new Delightful Dijon striped ribbon finishes off the card. Both cards are super simple. I'm excited to use this DSP on more projects.

Hop through the rest of my friends, lots of new products!

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends! God bless the USA!!

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Today's the day! The new Stampin' Up! 2016-2017 annual catalog! I've been perusing the pages for 6 weeks and I've been so excited for my customers to see it...and order from it!

I have no doubt you will "Find Your Inspiration"right here. From all-inclusive kits to stamps and accessories, you will find something for you!

I will apologize now because I didn't do a stepped up project. Honestly, I just ran out of time and didn't get the pictures of the basic card. I used the new Moroccan Nights with Dapper Denim and Copper Stampin' emboss powder. My tip: buy a copper Sharpie! You can color many of our amazing accessories with the Sharpie to coordinate with the ep and the new copper Metallic Thread. That's what I did with our our Rhinestone Basic Jewels. I used the Dapper Denim ink pad and swiped it across some Whisper White cs and then spritzed it with water after it dried. It looks kind of like a starry sky. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see all the new creations made with new catalog stuff! I already have a board on Pinterest just for the new catalog--you can follow my boards at www.pinterest.com/stampinjul.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Hey everyone! I recently was able to attend my first "On Stage" gathering for Stampin' Up! While we used to call it convention, our global company requires adaptations and changes to allow the company to include as many demonstrators as possible, hence On Stage! On Stage Live took place in Salt Lake City, Utah this time (the last one was in Brussels, Belgium!) and On Stage Local events take place in cities across the globe. It was great meeting with my good friends and of course stamping!! I did get to walk on the stage for my 20 years in Stampin' Up! YAY!!!! (I'm a couple months early, but I may not get a chance next time). I love this company!!

We always have a great time at our Stampin' Up! events, and even with the changes, it was a total blast! The next On Stage Live will be in Australia, so most likely I will not be attending that one, but maybe I will be able to make it to one of the local ones in the US.

On my basic card, I cut the paper on a little bit of a slant to give it some interest and stamped the hat with Crushed Curry. Easy card to make for a last minute party or if you need to do several at a time. Great to put on a gift or as an invitation!

The stepped up card I turned the other direction and stamped the hat in Crushed Curry and Watermelon Wonder and fussy cut around the hat and top and mounted with Dimensionals. I ran a piece of Pool Party through the Big Shot in the embossing folder for texture and added some beautiful Whisper White 5/8 in. Satin Ribbon (which happens to be on sale right now!!)

I am always a bit sad when they announce the retired items! Some of them I have loved and used regularly, but I know that to make room for the new, some of the 'oldies but goodies' need to say goodbye. I have seen the new catalog, (okay, it's sitting next to my bed so I can peruse it every night!!) so I am excited for it to be released to the customers--I'm pretty sure you are going to LOVE it! Please contact me if you want your own copy of the 2016-2017 Stampin' Up! catalog!

Time to head over to see the rest of my crafty friends and their creations!

We've had some lovely days here with the occasional rain storm, but I think we've finally said "so long" to the snow in the valley...finally!! Hope you are enjoying some beautiful, sunny weather!